Under-18 World Cup 7 - Everything Thread

[Abanhfleft]

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UNDER-18 WORLD CUP 7: ABANHFLEFT VS ERAMAN
By Malik Qazizadah


Karamoko Bakayoko of Abanhfleft celebrates his hat trick against Eraman in the 7th Under-18 World Cup. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Andros Tasasa)

TROTTAWA, EQUESTRIAN STATES - Abanhfleft started off their 7th Under-18 World Cup campaign in Equestrian States with a bang following a commanding and very decisive 6-0 victory against Eraman.

Karamoko Bakayoko, one of only four players to remain in the side following the embarrassment of a group exit in the previous edition of the Under-18 World Cup, quickly showed why he deserved to stay in the roster with an excellently taken goal deftly chipped over the Eraman goalkeeper before doubling both his and Abanhfleft's tally with a thunderous shot from inside the D after 18 minutes.

Darren Richardson tripled the Fleftic advantage with a clever run in behind the Eramanian defense before stroking the ball home from a tight angle, and Bakayoko got his deserved hat trick nine minutes after the restart through a penalty awarded after being clobbered in the back of the neck by an Eramanian defender during a corner kick.

Bakayoko added a fourth goal to his already impressive haul by heading home from Darren Richardson's corner kick, and central attacking mid Anderson Perone capped off the night with a free kick goal scored from 30 yards away that included a wicked curve that took the ball around the wall and into the goalkeeper's far corner.

"Utter domination" for Abanhfleft
To say that Abanhfleft utterly dominated this contest against Eraman would be an understatement, but it would also be the truth. Abanhfleft leads Eraman in almost every conceivable statistic that could be recorded in a game of football from kilometers run to balls in the final third to even fouls themselves, something which has drawn attention from media outlets owing to the nature of the Young Young Revolutionaries' victory over their opponents.

It is unknown what the Eramanian game plan was regarding the match against Abanhfleft, but if that plan involved letting Abanhfleft have the majority of the ball then it made the Eramanians play straight into the Fleftics' hands. Knowing that they had all the time in the world to calculate and set up their next moves appeared to be the key in the Young Young Revolutionaries' effective attacks on the Eramanian goal. Whether this attack can be replicated against Freeport and Kriegiersien is another matter entirely.

                      ABANHFLEFT 6 - 0 ERAMAN
BAKAYOKO (7', 18', 54' pen, 59')
                RICHARDSON (31')
                    PERONE (79')

ABANHFLEFT
GK: 1 Schmitt █
RB: 2 Dauer (Slinkard - 63')
RCB: 4 Kaba
LCB: 5 Webre
LB: 3 Rhames
RM: 6 Nixon
LM: 7 Avalos █
RW: 8 Deans
CAM: 10 Perone
LW: 11 Richardson (Souther - 83')
ST: 9 Bakayoko (Ivery - 63')

MATCH STATISTICS
Possession
Abanhfleft: 65%
Eraman: 35%
Shots
Abanhfleft: 30 (17 on target)
Eraman: 10 (3 on target)
Corners
Abanhfleft: 13
Eraman: 7
Fouls
Abanhfleft: 25
Eraman: 16

[Starblaydia]

Ready for Take-Off
McCloud announces presence on the international stage

Foxchester Raiders forward Sutter McCloud, 17, on his
way to a hat-trick against Vakolicci Haven & Celeria.

Starblaydia's first appearance at the Under-18 World Cup became a roaring success against Vakolicci Haven & Celeria, with Foxchester Raiders forward Sutter McCloud bagging himself a wonderful hat-trick. McCloud had already three substitute appearances for the Under-21s as a sixteen year old in the last Di Bradini Cup, scoring one of Starblaydia's entire tally of two for the tournament, against Oberour Ar Moro. The seventh edition of the Sporting World Cup has already started on a much brighter note than Starblaydia had hoped for, and McCloud's hat-trick augers well for the team's progression, both in general terms and also in this competition specifically. Although Group E rivals Mercedini absolutely smashed Sharktail by an 8-0 scoreline to put them in the driving seat of this group, McCloud's three goals and one from Calindra Apelles sealed what would be a routine 4-1 victory.

Starblaydia's classic 4-4-2 Diamond worked well, being both solid defensively thanks to the discipline of Gabriel Escerra sitting in front of the back four, as well as fluid in attack thanks to captain Arkady Krakowski getting forward down the left flank to expose the Havenic defenders. Starblaydia kept the ball well enough that they were largely safe, even on the counter-attack, from Havenic pressure, but as always there are things for Ázëwyn Fëanáro's young side to work on. It began well enough when a clever through ball from Apelles split the Havenic defence and saw McCloud sprint into free space, taking one touch to bring the ball inside before smashing it past the goalkeeper with his right foot. Apelles herself doubled the lead shortly after, feeling confident enough to have a crack from outside the box, with just enough dip on her strike to sneak the ball in under the crossbar and send Starblaydia two clear.

Overconfidence was their undoing, however, as a lazy-looking pass out of the defence from Chakraoborty was almost immediately intercepted, and there was nothing either the defence or Cosmo Leopolid in goal could do about the two-on-one situation, with the result being a goal on the board for Vakolicci Haven & Celeria. Starblaydia rallied, however, and restored their two-goal lead shortly before the break. Krakowski's beautiful cross was just ahead of not only Alan Eccleston, but also the two defenders he'd managed to drag with him, leaving McCloud unmarked at the back post to calmly sidefoot in on the half volley.

The Havenic team came out much stronger after Half Time, with Kaori Yamaguchi almost neutralised in midfield, with Edwin Deacy brought on to replace her. This extra bit of pace and movement helped free up Apelles and McCloud, while on the other flank Eccleston made way for Jake Deangelo in a tactical switch. Now looking more like a 4-3-3 than the 4-4-2 Diamond they had started out in, the wingers of Deangelo and Krakowski played havoc down the touchline and into the inside channels. When Krakowski cut the ball back to McCloud on the edge of the six-yard box, it was a simple matter of shooting into the net for McCloud to register his first hat-trick for the junior side. By this point Starblaydia were totally clear and three goals to the good, so only a like-for-like switch of Henri Apollo, on for Manish Chakraborty was required.

Starblaydia next face Sharktail, who will undoubtedly be trying their best to make amends for the Mercedini result. A more experience Starblaydi side would surely turn up the pressure and attempt to double the massive defeat their opponents have already suffered, but his is a young side just taking their first steps in the Starblaydi white. Perhaps they'll fear a Sharktail bounceback, or maybe they'll go in for the kill. Either way, the two qualified teams may already be decided by the end of the next Matchday at the Crystopolis Coliseum. Don't bet against, however, McCloud increasing his tally in this tournament, because so far this boy looks absolutely lethal in front of goal.

Final score from Imperial Arena, Crystopolis (14,503)
Starblaydia 4 - 1 Vakolicci Haven & Celeria
(McCloud 12' 39' & 63', Apelles 18') - (#9 32')

[Velestria]

Velestria — The Youth National Team
Youth World Cup Winning Side Looks to Build Towards Future

A relatively new nation on the international stage, the one-time winners of the U18 Sporting World Cup and facing scrutiny after a self-imposed one-cycle ban from WCC-sanctioned events, the Velestrian national team once more returns with a new look and new aspirations following deep, impactful changes to the team. A long time coming off since footballing competition, the same generation still holds strong as the national team will look to hold their own.

Team & Tactical Information
Its been four years since that "golden team" seen [url=forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=34193874#p34193874]here[/url] did the impossible and beat Sharktail in the U-18 World Cup finals in Free Republics, of course in the four years since then not a single member of that team has made its way onto the selection for the national team and most don't even play in the top division of Velish football in the Prava Leveg system, which lead the VFA to ponder — what was actually being done for the U-18 national team down in Southampshire. In the bit of time after that, the VFA took a good luck at the team and decided to move on from the U-18 champion-managing coach in Timothy McGraw (no relation to fired national team lacrosse coach), instead moving to hire Gamba Calix front man, Pierre Denton as manager. Snatching the 43 year old meant implementing a new 4-4-2 system into the locker rooms, bringing in new players at the expense of the former 5-4-1 which was axed. The new tenure of Denton starts now, and we've seen from some short training videos released by the VFA that its going to be a new team and a new future for Velish football. It truly is a wonderful time be playing football in Velestria.

Style modifier: -3.25
Rank: 171st (KPB: 2.90)
Usual formation: 4-4-2

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Al Gyzhon Juno — The Junior Gryphons

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STARTING ELEVEN

#  	Pos.  	    	Name                    Age     Club  	  	          	  	    	  
1  	GK  	  	Tristian GALLEGOS  	18  	Cumberland Fire Football Academy  	    	  
18  	DF  	  	Dalton GILMORE  	17  	Bingham Academy  	          	    	  
14  	DF  	  	Avery HENDERSON  	18  	Azalia Youth  	          	    	  	  
19  	DF  	  	Lily RODGERS  	  	16  	Dragonpool Youth  	          	    	  
20  	MF  	  	Ya'za VA'KERAZ  	16  	Gamba Calix  	          	    	    	  
15  	MF  	  	Morgan IYYRIVIA [c]  	18  	Xyris 07 	  	          	    	  
8  	MF  	  	Katie CLARK  	 	18  	Boulton Road H.S.---------------------------------
21  	MF  	  	AZRA                 	18  	Kuzani Girls Club---------------------------------
12  	MF  	  	Eric BARNETT     	16  	Woodville H.S.------------------------------------
9  	FW  	  	Terrence BOYD 	        18  	A.C. Gloucaster-----------------------------------
11  	FW  	  	Woodward DOURLEY 	17  	Cortana City Academy------------------------------

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SUBSTITUTES

#  	Pos.  	    	Name                    Age     Club  	  	          	  	    	  
1  	GK  	  	Angel CLOVERLANE  	17  	Valley Academy	          	          	  
25  	GK  	  	Kevin AUSTIN     	17  	Hathmond City Academy  	  		          
18  	DF  	  	Matthew MEYER  	   	16  	Gloucaster Youth  	          	    	  
14  	DF  	  	Bryant HOYER  	  	18  	Newtown Academy  	          	    	  
19  	DF  	  	Roscoe WOLFE  	  	17  	Valley Academy  	        	    	  
20  	MF  	  	Shawn PORTER  	   	16  	Edilson H.S.  	          	    	    	  
15  	MF  	  	Andrew QUINN   	   	18  	AC 694 	  	  	            	    	  
8  	MF  	  	Gabby TELLIS  	 	18  	Mesington Town H.S.-------------------------------
21  	MF  	  	Keith HAROLD  		17	Univ. of Fullham----------------------------------
12  	MF  	  	Laine RIVERS     	18  	Gloucaster Youth----------------------------------
9  	FW  	  	Grant BUTTERKNOCK 	16  	Buntley City Academy------------------------------
11  	FW  	  	Ouija QUILLINSON  	18  	North Shore Christian Academy---------------------

FORMATION & TACTICS

KPB: 2.90 (171st) • Style Modifier: -3.85 • Manager: Pierre Denton • Captain: Morgan Iyyrivia • Free Kicks: Azra • Penalties: Terrence Boyd Left Corners: Azra • Right Corners: Avery Henderson

KITS

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod Scoring Events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes (1 max. per game)
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out Yellow cards to my players: Yes (3 max. per game)
Hand out Red cards to my players: Yes (1 max. per game)
Godmod Other Events: Yes

[Equestrian States]

Match Day 2 Results

Group A
Oberour Ar Moro 2–0 Alpine Union
Equestrian States 2–1 95X

  Group A                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Equestrian States              2   2  0  0    6   3  +3    6
2 Oberour Ar Moro                2   1  0  1    4   4   0    3
3 Alpine Union                   2   1  0  1    2   2   0    3
4 95X                            2   0  0  2    1   4  −3    0

Group B
Juvencus 0–1 Pepsi Governate of Korea
Competitive Solitaire 2–3 Velestria

  Group B                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Pepsi Governate of Korea       2   2  0  0    3   1  +2    6
2 Velestria                      2   1  0  1    4   4   0    3
3 Competitive Solitaire          2   1  0  1    4   3  +1    3
4 Juvencus                       2   0  0  2    0   3  −3    0

Group C
Abristan 1–2 The Sarian
Ko-oren 1–0 Free Republics

  Group C                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Free Republics                 2   1  0  1    5   3  +2    3
2 Abristan                       2   1  0  1    3   3   0    3
3 Ko-oren                        2   1  0  1    2   2   0    3
4 The Sarian                     2   1  0  1    4   6  −2    3

Group D
Clonka Magnus 3–0 Filindostan
Qasden 1–1 Lochario

  Group D                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Qasden                         2   1  1  0    2   1  +1    4
2 Clonka Magnus                  2   1  0  1    3   1  +2    3
3 Lochario                       2   0  2  0    4   4   0    2
4 Filindostan                    2   0  1  1    3   6  −3    1

Group E
Vakolicci Haven & Celeria 0–4 Mercedini
Starblaydia 7–1 Sharktail

  Group E                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Mercedini                      2   2  0  0   12   0 +12    6
2 Starblaydia                    2   2  0  0   11   2  +9    6
3 Vakolicci Haven & Celeria      2   0  0  2    1   8  −7    0
4 Sharktail                      2   0  0  2    1  15 −14    0

Group F
Farfadillis 1–5 Baker Park
Darmen 2–0 Evaropi

  Group F                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Darmen                         2   2  0  0    8   3  +5    6
2 Baker Park                     2   1  1  0    7   3  +4    4
3 Evaropi                        2   0  1  1    2   4  −2    1
4 Farfadillis                    2   0  0  2    4  11  −7    0

Group G
Libonesia 1–4 Cassadaigua
Northwest Kalactin 2–3 Cosumar

  Group G                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                    2   2  0  0    5   1  +4    6
2 Cosumar                        2   1  0  1    3   3   0    3
3 Northwest Kalactin             2   0  1  1    3   4  −1    1
4 Libonesia                      2   0  1  1    2   5  −3    1

Group H
Eraman 0–3 Freeport
Abanhfleft 2–0 Kriegiersien

  Group H                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Abanhfleft                     2   2  0  0    8   0  +8    6
2 Freeport                       2   1  1  0    3   0  +3    4
3 Kriegiersien                   2   0  1  1    0   2  −2    1
4 Eraman                         2   0  0  2    0   9  −9    0

[Kriegiersien]

the changing room of the Ponies

"Ok, we have lost, do we change the tactic now?"
"No, the strategy is fine. Just kicking the ball up and everyone who is not a defender is running after it."
"When do we use the Thunderbolt- or Pyramidformation?"
"Not before the play-offs. But for the last game against Eraman, we will split. Everyone who is not playing will go to the game of Abanhfleft and cheer for them. They must win and we must win. With many goals. Dancing star, you are now the captain of the Cheersquad. You will train your group to cheer until exhaustion. You 5 are with him. Make noise, be loud, be motivational. You can do that"
"Yes, I won't fail you, coach."
"The rest goes training hoofball."

The ones who have been chosen to play rejoice.

"We start with endurance training."

A big sigh goes through the group.

[Abanhfleft]

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DI BRADINI CUP 33: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PART FOUR)
By Arnold Isaacs

Part Three of Di Bradini 33 after-action review took a look at the substitute goalkeepers and defenders who rode the bench on their way to winning the third place playoff against the Free Republics. Now it's time for us to look into what happened to our substitute midfielders.


Not always the luckiest footballer in terms of both his local and international career, nevertheless the vast majority of people in Abanhfleft and even the APOC Coalition has a soft spot for Luĉjo Miĥaelo Kleinmann.

Luĉjo Miĥaelo Kleinmann (26, CM, Malabon SC)
Unlucky. Perhaps that one word sums up best the footballing story of one Luĉjo Miĥaelo Kleinmann because it is so apt a descriptor for all of the events to have happened to him throughout his career. He was identified as a rising star at such a young age, having been part of the Fleftic national team setup since he was 14 years old. He had the looks of being that once-in-a-generation talent, the kind of player who can put life into a game simply by being there. I'm not sure what I meant back there but it's probably because it really is just so hard to define someone as special as Kleinmann. He had the skills, he had the brilliance, he had the mentality. But unfortunately for him, he didn't have the body to fulfill his potential. Injuries have blighted Kleinmann ever since he began playing against the big boys, starting with the time that he dislocated his kneecap from trying one too many pirouettes in a sea of defenders. And it's become an endless cycle since then of injury, recovery, return to old form, and then another season-ending injury for Kleinmann. It's so saddening. And it appears as if some of his bad luck has begun rubbing off on his club as well. Malabon has always been an FPL club and one of the title contenders, at least in the league's early years. The rise of Sporting Ceneisis, Rosenpfelblatz City, and Ludogorets Markovsky has put Malabon into a tier where they're not really good enough to challenge for titles anymore but they're also too good to get relegated. But once Abanhfleft joined UICA, Malabon has gone through a rollercoaster journey of ups and downs much like their most well known player of the current time. Ironically enough, it was when Kleinmann was sidelined for an entire year for yet another knee repair surgery that Malabon came closest to winning the title, and when Kleinmann finally had an entire season of fitness under his belt Malabon was shockingly relegated from the Premier League. As Malabon gears up for its first ever Unang Liga campaign in the UICA era, Kleinmann has admitted that he is worried about how he and the team will hold up in what is generally accepted as a tougher and more physical league, but he has also stated that he looks forward to the challenge. Malabon are early candidates for immediate promotion back to the Premier League, but one wonders if Kleinmann will get to play a part in that, or if he will actually get to play a single game in the season because as of time of writing, Kleinmann has gotten yet another injury during training. Perhaps luck is indeed cyclical.


Limited playing time with Riuwiee United as well as the arrival of Banguela's Edison Joao has practically forced Timothy Parcell out of the Blue Tribesmen's roster, but he has managed to find success elsewhere, specifically in Filindostan.

Timothy Parcell (29, CDM, Fortunas [Filindostan])
There is no easy explanation for how come Timothy Parcell was criminally underused during his time with Riuwiee United. One could easily point at his history of injuries, his sometimes less than savory off-the-field antics, the arrival of Edison Joao into the May 26 Stadium and his immediate impact in Parcell's preferred position in defensive midfield, or even the transition between managers as a contributing factor to why Parcell never really made a name for himself with the Blue Tribesmen. Parcell himself has also been sort of a finicky type, and despite signing a new four-year contract with Riuwiee, he handed in a controversial transfer request just one year into this contract, a transfer request which new manager Artemio Peres nevertheless also controversially accepted, and that was how Parcell found himself in Filindostan playing for Fortunas. Fortunas are one of the perennial title contenders over in Filindostan, and Parcell played a part in guiding his new club to the Globe Cup places. But just when it seemed as if Parcell had finally found the place where he could play and be himself, the other players initiated a strike, forcing a cancellation of the next season in Filindostan. It remains to be seen if the strike continues on and if Parcell will ever kick a football in Filindostan again.


Easily one of the most recognizable faces in Fleftic football today, things might not have turned out the same way for Lea Choi had she not taken her chances at the Di Bradini Cup.

Lea Choi (31, LM, Arsenal de Releinthi Women)
Lea Choi could very well be the definition of "hidden gem". She had a place in the under-21 team, yes, and she had appeared on a number of "youngsters to watch out for in ten years" lists, but nothing quite like the attention given to the likes of Rory Edwards and maybe Cedric Pearson. It could be said that Choi flew under the radar. And she never really had the chance to show off on the youth stage, having been relegated to the bench for her two Di Bradini Cup appearances, but she was an immediate shoo-in for the senior women's team, taking the place of Raisa Korovina in the left of midfield alongside Bella Maynard. That was the start of Lea Choi's rise, but it still needed that extra boost to finally turn her into an actual world class midfielder. And that would come in the form of her transfer to Arsenal de Releinthi Women from Tefel Ladies for 36.75 million new penenks, or equivalent to 10.5 million NSD. It was one of the biggest transfers ever in the history of women's football in Abanhfleft, and it has turned out into a very sound investment in the end for Choi, for Releinthi, and for Abanhfleft as a whole. Let's admit it, Lea Choi was simply too good to keep playing in the Ladies' Third Division with Tefel. She had to make her big money move in order to take advantage of both better teammates and better facilities. And it has proven most beneficial for her. At 31 years she shows no signs of stopping, and if she manages to keep herself in top shape for at least three more years then both Arsenal de Releinthi and Abanhfleft can only stand to benefit from it.


Mabel Finnemark may be a relatively unknown name in her home country of Abanhfleft but in Schottia, she is easily one of the best players in the Schottic Premier League and also one of the most decorated, winning six titles with club Cornellians.

Mabel Finnemark (28, CAM, Cornellians [Schottia])
Ask a random person in Abanhfleft if they know Mabel Finnemark and they will probably reply with, "Who?" If that random person either happens to be from Rosenpfelblatz or follows Rosenpfelblatz City then maybe you'll get an answer along the lines of "I've heard of her but not lately." However, if you go to Schottia and ask a random person there that question then you will get not only replies in the affirmative but also tales of how this pass or that tackle paved the way for a goal or even an outright victory for her club. Because the simple fact of the matter is that Mabel Finnemark is more well-known in Schottia than in Abanhfleft. It's the truth and nothing but. Finnemark may not be a regular starter for Cornellians but she has definitely played an essential part in her side's dominance in the Schottic Premier League. And yes, while it is true that Finnemark used to get big-headed after attaining success with Rosenpfelblatz City, either she has managed to grow out of that phase or she's now able to keep it on the down low. It's no secret that she enjoys the success that she has achieved with Cornellians; who wouldn't? But for all of this talk about her trophies and achievements, Mabel Finnemark surprisingly remains untapped by the senior national team. But that might all change now that there is new management in North Prarie's Ginny Katesmar, although she does appear to favor certain players for the national team over others who would have gotten in under Kasper Molak, Holly Jonasson, or even Heinrich Wurzmann.

Thus ends Part Four of my look back at the Di Bradini 33 team and the state of their careers afterwards. In the fifth and final part of this series, we will be looking at the fates of the three substitute forwards called up for that historic tournament in Starblaydia.

[Mercedini]

6th Under-18 World Cup Group Stage MD2
Vakolicci Haven & Celeria vs. Mercedini
@ Spire Grounds - Crystopolis, Equestrian States

Good morning and welcome back to the Equestrian States for the second match of the U18 World Cup Group Stage, we're up early today thanks to the time differacne between Mercedini and the Equestrian States, so it will be a morning match in Mercedini as the night begins to fall in Crystopolis. Mercedini have only had a short period of time to acclimatise to the time difference and the climate of the nation, which could spell difficulty for the Young Eaglets against a team which may seem pretty simple on paper. Mercedini have had a great run thus far, and that could very well continue with this match being the one which could confirm their spot in the knockout rounds. So, let's see whether Mercedini can stay on top and advance to the final sixteen!

U18 World Cup: Safe Haven

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FINAL SCORE

U18WC | MD2

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VAKOLICCI HAVEN & CELERIA 0
MERCEDINI 4
Vacek Jr 45+1', Nesci 49', Eureska 88', Colineri 90+4'

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Crystopolis, Equestrian States
Attendance - 13,020

Mercedini ensured safe passage into the U18 World Cup knockout rounds with a clinica 4-0 victory against Vakolicci Haven & Celeleria. That result, when combined with Starblaydia's 7-1 drubbing of last edition's runners-up Sharktail, puts both the Young Eaglets and their matchday three opponents through to the Round of 16 in rather emphatic style.

They were fresh from their record victory against Sharktail, but it was immediately back to training for the Mercedinians as they wanted to ensure that they started the tournament with the best possible outlook during the group stages. With a final day tussle against Starblaydia in the peripherals, they wanted to make sure their fortunes were wrapped up before the blockbuster match of the group. Another strong side with Vacek Jr returned to the squad following his substitution and four-goal haul in the first match. Zia Nesci confirmed his starting position in the team following the MFA's confirmation that Kyle Pisar would be ruled out for the rest of the tournament with torn ligaments and a suspected fractured ankle, his World Cup was over before it had even begun.

However, sights had to be set on their second match against VH&C, who didnt have the best of starts with a comprehensive 4-1 loss to the purple terrors of Starblaydia, so they had to pull out a result against Mercedini in order to resore parity with the top-two positions in the group.

The match started with a slightly empty Spire Grounds witnessing the start of this match, obviously the fixture didnt capture the imagination of the locals. The Mercedinians were back in their corner with flas and banners still there from the previous match against Sharktail, it was clear that the fans in black and blue had claimed the city of Crystopolis as their de-facto home for the tournament, with local support in the surrounding area beginning to build as the city was exposed to the team spirit and support of the Mercedinian team.

A rather tight first half in the Spire Grounds was opened up with a goal in first half stoppage time as Christian Vacek Jr picked up where he left off, scoring his fifth goal in two games with a plomb. It began on the right where Nesci was wreaking havoc with his pace and his movement off the ball, he was laid-off by Petrosino who was in a rather unconventional advanced postition for his role. Nesci hit the ball first time and sent a driven low cross into the mixer, the spin of the ball took it from the legs of the Vakolicci defender and into the path of Vacek Jr who missed the first ball. He took a touch to take it away from his marker before top-poking home from close range and celebrating in front of the opposition fans at the stroke fo half-time. It was the prefect time to score as Mercedini were a goal to the good at the break.

Nine unanswered goals at the start of the first one and a half games was certainly not the start many were expecting from the new-look Mercedinian side, Devidov had been working his magic as U18 manager in his fourth tonorunamnt with the group. Superstars had come and gone in the team, but he was hoping to build a new set of future footballing stars with the resources he had to hand.

The second half began with Vakolicci passing the ball around the back to quell the fiesty Mercedinian players who were nipping as the feet of their opponents. They were forced into an error by kicking the ball up the field and out of play, forcing an early throw-in for the Young Eaglets. They took their first opportunity on the ball as a long ball forward from Colineri bobbled about off the heads of a number of differant players from both teams, before Kadilyik thread a through ball towards Nesci down the wing. He was bounding into the box with Estograd and Vacek calling for it in the middle. He apparently didnt need any of them as he chipped the ball over the keeper at the near post to sqeeze the ball in at a tight angle. The Young Eaglets were 2-0 up and cruising yet again.

That took the team into doubles figure for their tourament, but the second game wasnt even finished their as Mercedini asserted their dominance on yet another team to secure another victory, and with Starblaydia asserting their overwhelming dominance on poor Sharktail, Mercedini just had to hold their line to secure another berth at the tournament's Round of 16 stage. Mercedini added a third with a couple of minutes left of regulation time with Jackson Eureska nodding home from a corner sent in by Nesci from the far side. There was plenty of bumping in the box but Eureska stood firm right on the penalty spot to direct his header low into the corner of the goal, just clipping the leg of the man on the post to wrap up proceedings from Crystopolis.

Vakolicci Haven and Celeria did push for a consolation goal in added time from a corner of their own, but the ball was well collected by Merlo in the Mercedinian net who set Vacek loose down the pitch. He was in space with one lone marker who was tracking back with him but he didnt see the other Mercedinian darting down the pitch in support, Ali Mercedes striker Gregory Colineri popped up in the most unlikely places as Vacek launched a ball forward for the defender to chase. Colineri took a touch forward and fired what was a fairly limp shot towards goal. Somehow the ball managed to squirm under the goalkeeper to round out an impressive performance from the Young Eaglets. 4-0 the final score in Crystopolis, it sets up what will be a blockbuster match on the final day against Starblaydia, both going for the top spot in the group.

[Starblaydia]

McCloud Flying High
Starblaydia Soar into Second Round

Calindra Apelles mid-match for Starblaydia as they moved to two wins from two.

Sutter McCloud became the first Starblaydi player at any level to score a hat-trick in two consecutive matches by netting another three goals in the second match of the 7th Under-18 World Cup. The seventeen year old star has already racked up more goals in a junior tournament than any other Starblaydi player in the modern era and, when added to his single goal in the last Di Bradini Cup, has already lifted himself to joint-thirteenth on the all-time list of goalscorers at junior level. He's now equal with strikers Ben Lutwudge, Christian Macia and Florencio Zaragoza, along with World Cup Winners Itechton Matranga and his teammate Cherry Garcia, who is also a World Cup Hall of Famer since her induction in World Cup 28. He only needs one more to enter the top ten, with four players sitting above him on eight goals. His incredible tally has come in just five matches and, with Starblaydia's attack in this tournament looking absolutely lethal, there's no telling quite how many he might get before he's done.

Starblaydia kicked things off by scoring with their very first shot, Alan Eccleston's strength almost immediately overpowered his defender, holding off the Sharktail centre back with a stiff arm as he brought the ball town. Taking one touch on the turn, he got a vital step away from his marker before blasting his shot past the goalkeeper. Eccleston's power proved telling for the second goal, shortly after the first, where his sheer presence had dragged a second defender out of line, covering in case he won the ball free again. This allowed Sutter McCloud to drift into space and receive Eccleston's deft flick on, taking both defenders out of the game for just long enough to allow McCloud to fire left-footed past the goalkeeper, low into the bottom-corner of the net. Sharktail, obviously fearing being on the wrong end of another 8-0 thrashing again, quickly changed up the strategy, and in doing so got a grip on the game. By blunting the thrusts of Calindra Apelles in the midfield, Starblaydia lost their attacking potency. Kaori Yamaguchi had to go looking for the ball in midfield, breaking Starblaydia's shape and leaving Imane Al-Hashem completely exposed, overrun by Sharktail attacks. Indeed, when the ball was whipped in from Sharktail's right wing, Al-Hashem was left trying to cover two wide players, and failing to do either. As the ball sailed cleanly over Chakraborty and Kaumolainen's heads, it was the simplest of matters for an oncoming and unmarked attacker on the left wing to bury the ball into the Starblaydi net, and it duly occurred. With less than 20 minutes gone, it was 2-1, but Sharktail were definitely back in the game.

It was down to Ázëwyn Fëanáro to change up her own side down the left, rather than the right. Captain Arkady Krakowski, as he'd done against Vakolicci Haven & Celeria, was pushed further up on the left into a full left-wing role. Calindra Apelles, losing out in the battle at the tip of midfield, dropped back to cover the space Krakowski had previously. Now, Starblaydia had one ball-winning and two ball-playing midfielders sitting in a tight net across the halfway line. Alan Eccleston also dropped back, the big number nine in practically a false-nine position to add his presence there, as the speedsters in McCloud and Krakowski were tasked with getting wide and behind Sharktail.

A quarter of an hour of the teams feeling each other out went by before Starblaydia extended their lead, as Calindra Apelles found the ball bobble to her on the edge of the area and struck it cleanly into the top corner. It was her second long range goal from outside the area in two matches, and her deadly accuracy meant she was closed down at every opportunity for the rest of the match. The game was finely balanced at half time, and though Starblaydia's two early goals proved the difference, it had become a tight, tactical affair of move and counter-move. The second half began as a tense affair, with Starblaydia aiming to keep their scoreline advantage, and Sharktail trying to get back into it without overextending themselves and leaving the back door open to the counter-attacking McCloud and Krakowski. They held firm for the opening twenty minutes, but McCloud's pace was just too much for them, latching on to a pass from Yamaguchi and increasing Starblaydia's lead to three clear goals.

That was the effective end of the contest, but it didn't stop Starblaydia from scoring three more times. before the match was over. First came Alan Eccleston's powerful header from an Apelles corner to make it five. Then Arkady Krakowski hit a cracker of a free kick over the wall, scraping the inside of the post on its way in, and finally Sutter McCloud put Sharktail to the sword and grabbed the match ball for the second time in two games as he latched on to a Yamaguchi pass, rounded the 'keeper and slotted into the empty net, completing his hat-trick. It's a frankly astonishing record for both McCloud and Starbladyia, bettered only by Mercedini with their 12 goals for and 0 against. Both team have already qualified thanks to two victories, but for this match goes both bragging rights and, arguably, the easier path in the draw. With two explosive forward lines, it should prove to be anything but dull. What odds on the contest being a 0-0 bore draw?

Next to impossible, surely.

Final score from Crystopolis Coliseum, Crystopolis (26,924)
Starblaydia 7 - 1 Sharktail
(Eccleston 4' & 78', McCloud 8', 67' & 88', Apelles 36', Krakowski 85') - (#10 18')

[Velestria]

---

CALIX ZANA — It was a quiet press conference, certainly more so than the press conference from when national team manager, Christopher Tajo Mendez had been hired, but it served the same purpose - to announce the 23-man roster ahead of the Baker Park Open in lieu of the second edition coming.

FINAL SCORE

U18WC | MD2

---

COMPETITIVE SOLITAIRE 2
VELESTRIA 3
Iyyrivia 14', Barnett 62', Dourley 90+2'

---

Whitetail, Equestrian States
Attendance - 19,400

In opening statements, Tajo Mendez spoke some praises to the national team, speaking on successive moral-building performances in recent and the Campianto Esportiva, "when one considered where we were four years ago...we limped through the 72nd Cup of Harmony, and then to look back on that transformation our team has grown in that time period. And yes, we've slumped back, but I am confident that this year is finally...yes, finally our chance to see our team climb up and emerge as a future footballing power to look out for," Tajo Mendez spoke. "We've seen large improvements everywhere, one can only look to our U-18 national team for inspiration, two years ago they went and conquered in Free Republics, and now at this very moment they are looking to defend their crown in Equestrian States. This nation has incredible talents from far and near, there are many in this nation with huge contributions to make, and we're extremely confident in the 23 selected today who can go forth to Baker Park and on to the qualification rounds for the World Cup and prove extraordinary things for us."

Similarly, he held no things back as he pointed out the Starting XI for the Baker park Open, despite not knowing who they'd be facing. "Yes, of course there were so many options at the front as to who we'd want to start for our side, at the end however, we believe we've picked the best of the best who all will be able to show out for the national team." That's an intriguing statement as there brewed a goalkeeping controversy which we saw Tajo Mendez speak on. "We have three goalkeepers who all have shown their immense ability to vie for the #1 spot on the roster, Easton Thomas has long been the solid skipper in the back for us, even now he's a smart choice. To have him on the field is like having a second coach, however, he's notified me of his wish to receive a lesser workload as we enter the next pivotal time for footballing in the nation. This leads me to having to select from Diamond Gregory, the superb backup we've developed from Applegate City or Alexis Barker, the goalie who transferred to Cosumar's Fevelo County a month ago. Chris Banker, a person who was brought in for the Campianto Esportiva is a quality goalkeeper, but the pivotal direction we're sending this team in just differs from the goals Mr. Banker was comfortable with."

However, there was an expected announcement from Tajo Mendez, "In the end," he began, "there's only been a single change in the Staring XI, we've seen the team emerge more competitively as the quality of play domestically slowly improves. We haven't seen any domestic play with the league over 5 months ago, so that was vital to us choosing who were getting the start for the national team, ultimately we need to get more Velish players in foreign leagues as to improve our ability to play, we have players who have not touched the field in months, that cannot continue, This is why I've decided to give Alexis Baker the No. 1 spot for the Baker Park Open, and while yes this is a major turn of events I am confident that he has shown the ability to deserve that kit over the camp." And while its toned down that's still...a huge annocuncement, a 31 he's on the other side of thirty and will probably find lest time to ply his trade internationally for the nation, does this mean this is truly the beginning of the transformation for the side? We already saw in the CE 6 new players debut on the Starting XI...the true start of the new era could finally be here for the national team.

"Right now, that assures us that Easton Thomas remains our first bench choice for the Baker Park Open, this also moves Diamond Greogry to the third spot at goalkeeper." Tajo Mendez continued, "these are two very capable players who can play the 1 spot for us at any time, and clearly at times we're going to need them to help us in latter parts of the game at any time. Easton Thomas is a man who has done quite well at the domestic level, Diamond Gregory is a young future goalkeeper for the national team alongside Baker, both show quality and will progress to a level that will prove to show the quality of the Velestrian footballing nation. Given Gregory's play this season, I want to see her develop more alongside Baker throughout the next two years, both players factor greatly into our team."

Diving into other parts of the roster, Tajo Mendez goes on discussing the team and other minor changes, "Yellis Eugene is plugged back into the roster for our team, we'd like to use him as a supersub, even at 35 he is an explosive player who can dominate tempo if needed, if combined with Utamara in the midfield an explosive attack that can be built with the two running the midfield." A dominate aspect has been a sueccesor to leading the defense like former captain Victor Parks was, currently the most-capped is Roy Norwood, with 7 caps and also the U-18 champion from two years prior, a player who can expertly develop into a the greatest defender Velestria has had and be enshrined in the lore of Velish football gods.

"Despite these deliberate tools we've used to build a winner we're still concerned with our greatest position of need, an able striker...Augusta Calrk coupled with Chris Goddard at the front is the latest solution to the ever-burning problem we've seen with the national team, an attack that is constantly stalled under heavy duress hurled at by larger, taller defenders. Now we know its a known fact Velish people are generally smaller, however the fact we cannot consistently challenge with bigger teams for headers is a terrible factor that doomed us many times previous. I have looked at how to improve this and have brought in youger players such as Brent Davis, the Fullham Rangers plyer who no doubt could fill that role in the future as a 6'5 striker who'd challenge alongside the larger defenders in the final offensive third. A key aerial threat, if he's able to improve his first touch and targeting, he's certainly a player we're look at in the future as a key member of our squad."

"All in all, I believe we've been able to see the best possible side we can put out there, I'm very excited to see what the team has in store. We stil have two weeks until the flights to Baker Park, so we've got time at camp to work on some integral thigns that are no doubt going to improve the team, we're looking forward to the challenge we have coming up for us. There is a fire burning in this team that we can feel, that the nation is going to come. Cristiscm is going to fuel this fire, and we're going to get better, and we're quite excited to where this team will be."

[Abristan]

Under-18 World Cup 7: Abristan
Ups and Downs

---

With two games played in the Under-18 World Cup Abristan sit second in Group C, which is shaping up for a thrilling finish with all four teams sat on three points after Matchday 2. With a Goal Difference of 0 Abristan are far from comfortable, and will have to recover the form they displayed in their opening encounter against Ko-oren to see them safely past the Free Republics and into the knock out stages of the competition.

Matchday 1: Abristan 2 - 1 Ko-oren

Matchday 1 saw the Abristani side take on Ko-oren - a game which ended 2-1 after a spirited fightback ultimately failed to reverse the two goal cushion Abristan established early on in the first half. Just minutes into the first half a hopeful and looping John Dyer cross from the left flank saw the Ko-orenite defensive unit fail to cover the ghosting run of Matt Early, who, leaping towards the near post, glanced the ball across the face of goal and onto the waiting head of striker Taj Voreda. Caught off guard by this early setback, and seeming keen to reverse the deficit, Ko-oren pushed their players up the field, engaging in a frantic press to try and win the ball back in dangerous positions. This high defensive line proved costly. Seventeen minutes into the game Cam Obadey stole the ball at the top of his own box, and played a route one pass over the defensive line where it was chested down with deft control by Taj Voreda, having made a darting run off the shoulder of the last defender. Knocking the ball out in front of him Voreda lumbered into the opposition box and, as the keeper charged off his line, nonchalantly swept the ball under his body and into the bottom left.

With this cushion established the Abristani midfield seemed content to drop back and try to control possession from inside their own half. A spirited display from the central pairing of Matt Early and Izak Abula saw Abristan close out the first half with their lead intact. The second half would begin with a fresh assault from Ko-oren, and with long ball after long ball played into the box the Abristani defense seemed likely to crack. And crack it did - a misplaced clearance header from Obadey gave Ko-oren the ball back in a dangerous wide position. Crossing the ball back into the box, the tired Abristani centreback Mika Hemila was outjumped by Steef Kisjewant, reducing the cushion to just a single goal.

65th minute subsitutions saw fresh legs brought on in defense, with Ayden Kirwell replacing Mika Hemila, and Jamie Gallagher replacing Denis Camara at rightback. Defending now with a renewed energy, Abristan were able to see out the second half to start their Under-18 World Cup campaign with a victory.

Matchday 2: Abristan 1 - 2 The Sarian

Abristan sought to follow up on their opening victory against The Sarian on Matchday 2. With seven new faces brought into the starting XI, coach Dan Sellers was hoping to see an energetic performance from his young squad. What he got instead was a lacklustre and lifeless display. Abristan's new midfield partnership of Early and Lane failed to boss the centre of the park as Early and Abula had done against Ko-oren, outmuscled time after time by the more physically imposing Sarian players. Furthermore without John Dyer as a solid attacking outlet on the left of the field the team failed to hold onto possession in the final third; Patrick Madding failed to impress in his place, with a clunky first touch often bringing a premature end to Abristani attacking moves. The back four were solid for the first thirty, but with frustration after frustration in the opposing half, wingbacks Wilson and Camara were all too eager to rush into the attack. Caught off guard twice by counter attacking moves from The Sarian, Abristan went into the dressing room down by two.

The second half began with John Dyer on for Madding on the left, and the relative unknown of the squad, Sammy Vasa, taking over from Travis Lane in the centre. Stability was restored to the Abristani attack and while they still struggled to retain possession in the centre, once the ball reached the final third the team were much more patient and calm in possession, picking out incisive passes to strikers Voreda and Tinsley.
The team recorded 9 shots on target in the second half alone, and if it wasn't for a sterling display from the Sarian keeper the result could have been very different. As it was the partnership of Voreda and Tinsley was only to find the net once; with Ben Tinsley holding up play at the edge of the box Josh Payne cut in from a wide position. After receiving the ball from Tinsley, Payne drove along the byline before centering the ball to Voreda who netted for his third of the tournament.

This was a disappointing loss for Abristan, and media back home was swift to criticise Sellers for the risk he took changing the winning lineup of Matchday 1 so drastically. It remains to be seen whether he will continue to experiment with the starting XI for Matchday 3.

[Ko-oren]

Win and In / Tactical Breakthroughs

The U-18 soccer team has one hurdle left to take: matchday three puts us against The Sarian. The other game features Free Republics and Abristan. Simply said, you win, you're in. All four teams have won a single game so far. If both matches end in a draw, the Free Republics take first, the Sarian stays last, and depending on the draws, Abristan and Ko-oren determine who takes second. By default, Abristan has a better chance on 3 goals scored, 3 conceded. Ko-oren has 2 scored, 2 conceded: if this were a competition on the Dragonfly Archipelago, Ko-oren would be first by merit of a better defence. Internationally, Abristan is typically first by goals scored. But that's just a different perspective on the world's game.

A somewhat smallish roster is now in the Equestrian States to prepare for the third match. So far, we've been given a look at the players that will be Dragonflies by World Cup 87 or so, and so far it's not a bad look. All youth teams are modelled after the 'regular' national team, so there are always far more defenders than midfielders or strikers on the team, and a 5-3-2 is utilised (though that often looks more like a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 at times, but more on that later).

The 'regular' national team is slow to adapt, and will always play by a defensive philosophy. And so will the youth teams. The U-21, and the U-18 to an even larger extent, can't play a full 90 minutes with their backs against the wall, and the KFA have developed a slightly different tactic for them to use. The game is pretty attack-centered on average, and even the Dragonflies will have to adapt somehow. That means that the backline of five defenders features one player that pops up as an extra midfielder. With five defenders, that's five different versions of the extra midfielder. All five looks have been used, and this is what's happened so far.

Normally, the team uses a 5-3-2 with two fullbacks and three centrebacks. The midfield is typically a defensive midfielder and two central midfielders, one of which is a playmaker and the other a quicker, attacking midfielder. The strikers are either two finishers, or a finisher and an assist specialist. Changing this 5-3-2 into a 4-4-2 gives you five options of moving a defender towards the midfield:

1) Fullback as a winger
This option is a very offensive option, giving you a '2-2' midfield: the playmaker and DM at the back, and the fullback and the AM in the front. The latter pair will go out wide, and this works especially well with two pure finishers up front. We've seen that leftback Borggreve, with his speed, is a much better option than the defensive rightback Aki.

2) Fullback as a defensive/central midfielder
This option can look a lot like the first one, so the opponent might not always figure out what happens. If so, that's one battle won. Secondly, it frees up the playmaker to join the attacking midfielder. Again, you're looking at a 2-2 midfield. Especially if the defence is more fragile in the centre of the field, this is better as the playmaker can give precise passes right in the heart of the defence.

3) Centreback as a defensive midfielder
This one is an easy one, where one of the three centrebacks moves ahead some 5-10 metres while in possession, to join a 2-1-1 or 2-2 midfield. Much like option 2, this gives a lot more firepower in the centre of the field. Again, like option 2, it works well with one finisher and one assist specialist up front, so you effectively have three creative players serving one finisher, backed up by two defensive midfielders and a full four-man defence. As an added bonus, this option doesn't leave you short-handed on the wings, if there's a chance for a counterattack.

4) Centreback as a playmaker
In this option, you play with a 1-2-1 midfield, the centreback moving up 10-20 metres. There still is a 4-man defence, with a defensive midfielder in front of it. Defensively, this is a great option while still giving you a surprise option in possession - nobody is going to guess a CB can operate as a central midfielder. However, the skill set needed for this is insane: a good defensive option for a CB that has great passing ability. If this is present (and you can field this, with three CBs), this is a great surprise!

5) DM drops back, two fullbacks advance
This is a great option if you're not up against a quick team. This gets you three CBs and a DM at the back - not often an agile combination - but gives you immense speed and potential of a counterattack in return. Two wingers, a playmaker and an attacking midfielder are more than enough to serve two finishers up front. It's a great idea, but with great power comes great responsibility: it leaves a huge gap between defence and midfield, it leaves you with a slow back line, and it leaves the wings open. Offensively, this is the best opportunity to score.

All of these options seem to work at the U-18 level, and we didn't even know it could be this powerful. These might even be options to use for the regular national team!

[Darmen]

U-18's through to Round of Sixteen

The Darmeni U-18 national football team has raced out of the gates to a commanding lead in Group F of the Seventh U-18 World Cup. A surprising 6-3 victory over Farfadillis in the first match set the tone for the team, which they then followed with a solid 2-0 victory over Evaropi. With six points from two matches and a +5 GD, Darmen is assured a place in the Round of Sixteen, although they could still finish second in the group if they lose their final match to Baker Park.

Captain Darnell Halle has led the team, both with his leadership ability and also his left foot, scoring three goals. His goal in the second half of the opening match created a lot of talk both in the host nation and elsewhere, the 31 yard ripper being played over and over on television.

16 year old winger Billy-Bob Trudeau has also made waves. In just 23 minutes of action against Farfadillis, Trudeau assisted Alex Watts with a superbly placed cross into the box, and further created three other chances which the Darmenis were unable to score. Manager Lionel Ottosen is rumored to have selected Trudeau ahead of William Rikkard for the start in the final group stage match, despite the latter's goal against Evaropi.

Darmen will face either Starblaydia or Mercedini in the Round of Sixteen, dependent on the result of the match between them. Together, the two teams have dominated Group E, outscoring their opponents by a combined 23-2! Regardless of who the young Darmenis play, it will certainly be a tough test. Nonetheless, confidence in the Darmeni camp is high.

Darmen U-18 6-3 Farfadillis U-18
Tuesday, August 12, 2042 | 5:00pm Kickoff
@ Diamond Park, Stalliongrad (37,334 attending)

STARTING XI & SUBSTITUTES:
 1 Salas
 2 Johnson
 3 Alvarez
 (14 Godfrey SUB 72')
 4 Drummond GOAL 33'
 5 Pettersen
 6 Valdez GOALS 11' & 69'
 7 Wilkinson
 8 Beatty
 9 Rikkard
 (16 Trudeau SUB 70')
10 Watts GOAL 79'
11 Halle GOALS 23' & 52'
 (19 Kristoffersen SUB 65')

STATISTICS
              DAR FAR
Shots          23   8
Shots on Goal  11   5
Possession    57% 43%
Free Kicks      5   2
Corners         3   1

Darmen U-18 2-0 Evaropi U-18
Saturday, August 16, 2042 | 2:00pm Kickoff
@ Apple Orchard Park, Appleoosa (24,507 attending)

STARTING XI & SUBSTITUTES:
 1 Salas
 2 Johnson
 (13 Candelaria SUB 58')
 3 Alvarez
 4 Drummond
 5 Pettersen
 (17 Hernandez SUB 77')
 6 Valdez
 7 Wilkinson
 (15 McCormick SUB 81')
 8 Beatty
 9 Rikkard GOAL 76'
10 Watts
11 Halle GOAL 34'

STATISTICS
              DAR EVA
Shots          10   4
Shots on Goal   4   1
Possession    53% 47%
Free Kicks      3   1
Corners         0   2

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

© Sporting Times Daily 2022
U18's to face Darmen with Group F at stake
by Fiona Devlin, Staff Soccer Writer

The Commonwealth Under-18 national team will renew the country's acquaintance with Darmen in the final group game at Star Field in Stalliongrad, with the winner finishing first; Darmen will go through to the final 16 regardless of the outcome but BP will need at least a point or a result where Evaropi doesn't end up tied on 4 points and with a better goal difference.

Baker Park and Darmen meet for the second straight time in the group stage at the Under-18 World Championship, and the two nations are familiar with one another in the sport; they have been drawn together in the same World Cup Qualifying group in both of the Commonwealth's appearances and the Darmen ladies participated in the Baker Park Open Cup, although they two side did not face one another.

Like the FAC, the Darmeni FA take pride in their youth development and Manager Will Barnard looks forward to seeing what the opponents have on offer. "Obviously we know their senior side, and it's interesting for us to measure ourselves against them across different levels of progression."



lineup vs Darmen

Johnston; Onikambe, Freeman, Hughes; Grimaldi, Myers, Eichorn, Aguilar; Nolan; Harris, Craig

[Equestrian States]

Match Day 3 Results

Group A
95X 3–4 Oberour Ar Moro
Alpine Union 0–2 Equestrian States

  Group A                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Equestrian States              3   3  0  0    8   3  +5    9
2 Oberour Ar Moro                3   2  0  1    8   7  +1    6
3 Alpine Union                   3   1  0  2    2   4  −2    3
4 95X                            3   0  0  3    4   8  −4    0

Group B
Velestria 3–3 Juvencus
Pepsi Governate of Korea 1–2 Competitive Solitaire

  Group B                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Competitive Solitaire          3   2  0  1    6   4  +2    6
2 Pepsi Governate of Korea       3   2  0  1    4   3  +1    6
3 Velestria                      3   1  1  1    7   7   0    4
4 Juvencus                       3   0  1  2    3   6  −3    1

Group C
Free Republics 4–3 Abristan
The Sarian 1–2 Ko-oren

  Group C                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ko-oren                        3   2  0  1    4   3  +1    6
2 Free Republics                 3   2  0  1    9   6  +3    6
3 The Sarian                     3   1  0  2    5   8  −3    3
4 Abristan                       3   1  0  2    6   7  −1    3

Group D
Lochario 1–1 Clonka Magnus
Filindostan 0–1 Qasden

  Group D                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Qasden                         3   2  1  0    3   1  +2    7
2 Clonka Magnus                  3   1  1  1    4   2  +2    4
3 Lochario                       3   0  3  0    5   5   0    3
4 Filindostan                    3   0  1  2    3   7  −4    1

Group E
Sharktail 2–2 Vakolicci Haven & Celeria
Mercedini 1–3 Starblaydia

  Group E                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Starblaydia                    3   3  0  0   14   3 +11    9
2 Mercedini                      3   2  0  1   13   3 +10    6
3 Vakolicci Haven & Celeria      3   0  1  2    3  10  −7    1
4 Sharktail                      3   0  1  2    3  17 −14    1

Group F
Evaropi 1–1 Farfadillis
Baker Park 2–0 Darmen

  Group F                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Baker Park                     3   2  1  0    9   3  +6    7
2 Darmen                         3   2  0  1    8   5  +3    6
3 Evaropi                        3   0  2  1    3   5  −2    2
4 Farfadillis                    3   0  1  2    5  12  −7    1

Group G
Cosumar 2–1 Libonesia
Cassadaigua 6–2 Northwest Kalactin

  Group G                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                    3   3  0  0   11   3  +8    9
2 Cosumar                        3   2  0  1    5   4  +1    6
3 Libonesia                      3   0  1  2    3   7  −4    1
4 Northwest Kalactin             3   0  1  2    5  10  −5    1

Group H
Kriegiersien 1–1 Eraman
Freeport 4–3 Abanhfleft

  Group H                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Freeport                       3   2  1  0    7   3  +4    7
2 Abanhfleft                     3   2  0  1   11   4  +7    6
3 Kriegiersien                   3   0  2  1    1   3  −2    2
4 Eraman                         3   0  1  2    1  10  −9    1

Round of 16 Matchups

Equestrian States vs. Pepsi Governate of Korea
@ Elements Stadium in Ponyville

Ko-oren vs. Clonka Magnus
@ Spire Grounds in Crystopolis, Crystal Empire

Starblaydia vs. Darmen
@ City of Manechester Stadium in Manechester

Cassadaigua vs. Abanhfleft
@ Manehattan Industrial Park in Manehattan

Competitive Solitaire vs. Oberour Ar Moro
@ Trottawa Stadium in Trottawa

Qasden vs. Free Republics
@ Apple Orchard Park in Appleoosa

Baker Park vs. Mercedini
@ Derby Field in Manehattan

Freeport vs. Cosumar
@ Pony Lands Park in Manechester

[Kriegiersien]

When the blimp with the hoofball players from Kriegiersien landed back home in Ponynesia, the team left a short adventure behind.

"We saw the Equestrian States. Wasn't that great? Meeting all the ponies and seeing its countryside?"
"I would have preferred that we could have stayed longer and see more then 3 cities."
"But even then we would have stayed mostly playing hoofball."
"Oh, you stayed mostly in the hotel making tactics we never used and training anyway."
"I would have preferred to win it."
"I would have stayed, if I could."
"You may have River, you scored our only goal. Maybe they would have given you a contract."
"You think?"
"No."

"What I am angry about, is that Ablablaleft lost. We cried our heart out and they lost. I think they really didn't care if they would win, because they were already qualified."
"You shouldn't have booed them at the end, that wasn't nice."
"And we didn't win either, so it doesn't matter."

When they left the blimp an overwhelming crowd of Ponies cheered them. The whole city of Pony City seemed to be present.

"They celebrate us, even though we are eliminated."
"It is nice to be home."

[Ko-oren]

Four at the back, three points, two to one victory

Ko-oren came in clutch and clinched the next round! In a deadlocked group of nations on the same number of points, it came down to a win-and-in scenario for the Sarian and Ko-oren, and Free Republics and Abristan.

The Sarian, known to us from just two qualification matches back when our current U-18 players were starting elementary school. It's safe to say that their parents might recognise the name, but that's it. There's no rivalry between this group of players and the Sarian. What makes it even worse is that our opponents hadn't communicated their starters ahead of the game. It's unclear what the protocol says about that, but ahead we went.

For the Butterflies, the starting XI was a mix of older players and players that are teammates. The former for the natural development and life experience, the latter for playing style and affinity. Heijting was on goal, he's let in a few goals but so far there is no reason to swap him out for Shibata. The defence is the most interesting line, as you probably read in the previous notes about the U-18 team. The five-man defence has a habit of turning into a four-man line and sending an extra midfielder, creating all kinds of mismatches. Anyhow, the defence consisted of Aki, Rampton, Collins, Kibisaunthen, and Borggreve. The backs have been a pleasure to watch all tournament to this point, Borggreve a better player in possession, Aki a better player in defence. Rampton owes his start to his status - but then again, he delivered. The Apox-born defender has still never played for a Ko-orenite club, but he is lighting it up in his local Centre for Excellence. Collins and Kibisaunthen are on the NUW (National University of Willowbourne) team.

Midfield was a fairly defensive configuration with Garnier, Torsatherinthen, and Lerzutindhen. Garnier is basically a tough defender. Torsatherinthen is never found far forward but does widen the pitch considerably. Lerzutindhen has generated some hype as the tournament goes along, not seen as a flashy player but he is rising in the draft as we speak.

The first half saw Ko-oren take no chances. No shots on goal, either. The team fell back, waiting to see what the Sarian would throw at them, and hoping to strike on the corner. Unfortunately, the opponents also knew this and didn't bite - but they were in possession, looking for any gap. The first half ended, and it looked like it would remain scoreless. However, one of few pot shots deflected into the greenblue goal - 1-0 to the Sarian. Now Ko-oren had to attack, and score, to get back into the next round.

The second half finally gave us the 4-at-the-back tactic. Instead of going for a symmetric approach, leftback Borggreve often operated on the same flank as left winger Torsatherinthen. In the beginning, this completely surprised the defence and the left wing duo sent cross after cross into the box, looking for Killand and Okumura but never finding them. Until, at last, a cross did sail right towards Okumura for the equaliser. After this, the Torsatherinthen/Borggreve combination was a focus for the Sarian - and now there was heaps of space on the other side. Okumura was substituted for Kisjeswant, who suddenly appeared in the gap left behind by whoever guarded Borggreve, and this was not a chance Lerzutindhen would let go. Five minutes before the end, a deep pass ahead of Kisjeswant ended up a centimetre closer to the Ko-orenite than the Sarianite, Kisjeswant chipped the ball over the oncoming goalkeeper's foot, and the Green and Blue were up 1-2, minutes to go, virtually in first place in the group.

And that's where they stayed. As Group C's winner, Ko-oren will face Clonka Magnus who had some trouble qualifying for the knockouts. They finished with one win and a draw, in second place, on paper one of the more favourable matchups for us. In other groups, Equestrian States advanced easily at 3 wins, Qasden kept two clean sheets and conceded just a single goal, and Starblaydia and Cassadaigua also look like formidable teams. Those four, for now, are our favourites to win the tournament.

[Starblaydia]

Powering to the Last 16
Teen team traverse tough test to top table

The highlight of the final Group Stage matches was certainly Mercedini vs Starblaydia, notable both
for the attacking prowess on display, but also the match-up of two ediraf-branded sides.

The eyes of the football community, from managers and scouts and players the world over, were firmly fixed on the final Group Stage clash between Mercedini and Starblaydia in the Equestrian States. Mercedini is already well known as a force in Under-18 football, having won this tournament three editions ago, and their attacking prowess becoming well known. Starblaydia, on the other hand, have never competed at this level before. Though their history in the Under-21 World Cup goes all the way back to the third edition, when the evergreen Simeone Di Bradini was eighteen years old and scoring Starblaydia's first goal of any kind in the now iconic all-white white uniform, this is their first Under-18 World Cup. On the basis of their performances so far, they probably should have entered before the 7th edition.

Starblaydia and Mercedini have been the standouts of Group E and, indeed, perhaps the entire tournament so far. As some teams have been grinding out standard wins, with the occasional thrashing like Baker Park's 5-1 demolition of Darmen, or Abanhfleft's 6-0 over Eraman, both Starblaydia and Mercedini exceeded ten goals in their first two games against Vakolicci Haven & Celeria and Sharktail. With their spearheads of Sutter McCloud and Christian Vacek Jr already taking on talismanic status at this level, these two teams blasted themselves into the Second Round before this match and, on this form, it wouldn't be too much of a suprise to see them meet again in the Final. That's a long way off, however, but on the basis of this meeting, it was Starblaydia got the bragging rights, the psychological boost, but who put themselves into what is probably, on balance, the more difficult side of the draw.

Looking beyond Starblaydia's next opponents, a juicy match-up with either Cassadaigua or recent familiar foes Abanhfleft is on the cards. with potentially the host nation Equestrian States, or Ko-oren awaiting in a Semi-Final match. On the other side of the draw, Baker Park vs Mercedini looks to be the tie of the round on paper, but outside of that only Oberour Ar Moro have demonstrated enough to be a potential threat to a Mercedini run to the Final. If Starblaydia can perform like they have been so far, they'll need to come through two difficult matches before they can put themselves in their first Final, at any level, since World Cup 63. It's a long way ahead and Ázëwyn Fëanáro has said the sensible thing that the squad is approaching one game at a time, but this tournament looks like it could be there for Starblaydia's taking as it moves into the knockouts.

The match itself was full of the end-to-end play that we expected from these sides, with the both back fours having to hold firm against a torrent of attacks from their opponents. Jean-Luc Estograd, Vacek and Lorano all had good attempts on goal in the opening half hour, with either defensive blocks or good work from Cosmo Leopoldi in the Starblaydi goal coming to the rescue. Similarly, at the other end, it looked to not be Sutter McCloud's day for the first time in this tournament so far, as Ally Dandic shepherded him out of a shooting position at every opportunity. The crowd and commentators seemed to begin to wonder if this would genuinely be that 0-0 draw we'd all assured ourselves wouldn't happen, because even at this level these youngsters will try things, make mistakes and something will happen. With time ticking away in the first half, something did.

Kyle Pisar managed a sublime piece of skill and deceptive body language to leave Ursula Namaan for dead and the Apoxian-inspired Centre for Excellence player broke into the backfield with all the time and space required to line up the perfect cross. With players both attacking the space and trying to defend it effectively, Pisar pinged in a low cross. The ball was scuffed away by Falka Kaumolainen, who could only stab her foot out as it passed her by. The deflection bobbled the ball up into the air, and Christian Vacek Jr was in the perfect position to take the ball above hip height, and guide it into the next with an agile side foot strike. It was Starblaydia's third conceded goal of the tournament, and Mercedini had now scored 13 and conceded none. At the half-time whistle, it didn't really look like much was going to change in this otherwise solid back-and-forth match.

The second half began much as the first, but Mercedini were much more confident in possession, making Starblaydia somewhat fruitlessly chase the game, running the midfield ragged as the naturally more defensive Young Eaglets settled into a comfortable rhythm. What they say about the rhythm, however, is that it's gonna get you, and there's nothing that burly Starblaydi striker Alan Eccleston loves more than disrupting things, especially defences that have set themselves into a holding pattern. The euphemistic term is that Eccleston loves to 'put himself about a bit', by which they mean barging, shoving, pushing and pulling. It usually means defenders have to get excessively physical with him and risk being whistled for a foul, or it makes them hesitate slightly for fear of the big lad from Tuncastle barging into them unprepared in mid air, or as they pass the ball, or just even for the sake of it. So when he drew Petrosino into a contest for the ball, it was surprising when Eccleston deftly stepped away from the challenge and retreated sharply into midfield. What hadn't been spotted, however, was the sprint from Kaori Yamaguchi, who shot into the space behind the Zoloroni Park youngster, who was now only fractionally out of position. That was all it needed, however, as Eccleston no-look backheeled the ball into Yamaguchi's path. She quickly played a simple one-two with McCloud, and all that was left was for her to stroke the ball home into the bottom right corner. One-all out of nowhere with ten minutes to go and Starblaydia suddenly hair their tails up.

Almost directly from the restart, Krakowski intercepted the ball in midfield and set up Apelles for a low, long-range shot the skipped along the turf like a stone on a lake but crept agonisingly wide. Mario Marlo looked confident it was going wide of his goal, but the replays showed that was a brave decision indeed. Starblaydia were breaking like a series of waves of white on the Mercedinian defence, but they didn't have everything their own way, Leopoldi forced into a sharp save from Kadilyik. But, when McCloud was put through into the box with less than two minutes to go, Brando Meucci came across and clattered into Starblaydia's leading goalscorer with a tangle of legs and no contact with the ball. The referee took a long look at the collision before pointing to the spot. Alistair Devidov and his staff were furious, though we couldn't tell if it was fury at the decision or the clumsy challenge itself.

On six goals in two games, having won the penalty and being the designated penalty taker, there was no-one other than McCloud who'd take the spot kick. With a short run-up, he struck it cleanly with a thud heard around the entire stadium that slammed the ball into the net, high to his left. Starblaydia were in the lead, and there was barely any time left. Barely is still enough, though, and when Gonzalo Lorano lost the ball in midfield through tired legs, Krakowski again dived onto the loose ball and sprinted through the broken play with it at his feet. With the Mercedini team making the ad-hoc transition from attack to defence, Krakowski slipped the ball inside to the onrushing Calindra Apelles, who took one touch into the box and fired the ball home with authority to seal the game for Starblaydia in injury time.

Now Starblaydia face Darmen and a star striker of their own in captain Darnell Halle, who leads his team with three goals. He's left-footed too, just like Sutter McCloud, who with his eighth goal at junior level brings himself into the top ten of all-time youth scorers for Starblaydia, drawing level with four other players, including those who would go on to be some of Starblaydia's all-time great strikers:

Lubii at a WC41 press conference

Iskara Daii striker Lubii joined Fullbright as a young striker in the 39th World Cup and top-scored for Starblaydia in the third and fourth Di Bradini Cups, earning 14 youth appearances. She soon went on to top-score for Starblaydia at seven consecutive senior tournaments, including becoming World and Regional champions after 9 goals in the victorious World Cup 41 campaign, and nine in six matches at the 23rd AOCAF Cup, the last time Starblaydia won the world's premier regional tournament. Lubii once scored five goals in a single game, as Starblaydia demolished Gweridijongya in the 4th Oriental Football Cup in Daehanjeiguk, as well as two consecutive hat-tricks in AOCAF 23, in a 7-0 against Oceaniaus and a 9-0 against Kosovoe. She also scored the winner against Capitalizt SLANI in World Cup 41's Final, finishing on 55 goals for her country in 80 appearances, including the 1,500th goal in international play, and being named Liga Starblaydia Player of the Year in 2078. She's sixth on the all-time senior goalscorers list for her country.

Starblaydi golden girl Nicole Maitland-Banks

Tarquin Fullbright played his entire career for the Montepool Waves, and managed his eight junior goals in just seven games of the first Di Bradini Cup as Starblaydia ascended to Third Place, going on to score 33 times in 65 matches for Starblaydia as he led the team in scoring during AOCAF Cup 20, the 38th Baptism of Fire, and World Cup 38 and 39, with Starblaydia qualifying for the latter. His highlight list includes a hat-trick against Tuaim in the BoF, and sits in 20th position on the all-time goalscorers list.

Stephen Landsberg, formerly of Hernsworth Cubs and Lulat Starfox of the Northern Sunrise Islands, played in four World Cup Qualifiers from WC67 to WC70, scoring in World Cup 67 against Osarius on his way to eight junior goals in 12 matches, and 17 senior goals in 49. He's joint-55th in the table alongside players like Tetsuo Naoki and Ricky England.

Nicole Maitland-Banks: scored her eight Under-21 goals in 12 appearances, before going on to score 47 times for Starblaydia in 82 matches, placing her joint-eighth in the all-time goalscoring list alongside World Cup 28 winner and Olympic gold medalist Johan Keifner. Playing for Hondo FC of Valanora for the majority of her career, she's a winner of World Cup 47, having been a nineteen year-old substitute in that squad, ranked number 1 in the KPBs at the time. She scored twice in those finals, against The Macabees and Daehanjeiguk, going on to score a hat-trick against Cassadaigua in the Kings Cup, four in a match against Secristan in World Cup 49's finals in Newmanistan, and a hat-trick against Azorra in a 6-0 win at the 50th World Cup.

These four include two of Starblaydia's greatest ever strikers, women who would make the Starting XI of practically any team in the multiverse. Now, not every Under-21 star can go on to match their exploits at senior level, and plenty of great Starblaydi strikers have scored little-to-no goals at youth level before going on to wonderful senior careers. McCloud's tally of eight goals in six appearances certainly puts him into the conversation of who's the best youth striker, but there's still plenty more to come from the seventeen year old in both this tournament, and the upcoming Di Bradini Cup. If Starblaydia progress deeper in the knockouts here, though, what price a place in the World Cup 82 squad for young McCloud and others like him? The future of Starblaydi football doesn't appear to have been this bright for quite a long time, but it will be a while yet before we can see if the sun has truly risen on a new era.

Final score from Imperial Arena, Crystopolis (42,863)
Mercedini 1 - 3 Starblaydia
(Vacek 38') - (Yamaguchi 79', McCloud 88' (P), Apelles 90+2')

[Abanhfleft]

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DI BRADINI CUP 33: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PART FIVE)
By Arnold Isaacs


Garrett Krantz chose to go abroad in order to avoid relegation dogfights, but throughout his career it seems as if the relegation dogfights have also followed him.

Garrett Krantz (29, LW, Nukon [Eura])
Garrett Krantz doesn't like getting relegated. Who does though? It's just a normal repulsion that everyone who even remotely cares about football also has. But out of all the 23 players to have participated in the 33rd Di Bradini Cup, it's fair to say that Krantz has gone through the most relegations a football player could ever go through. Twice with Paulsen he was relegated. Twice they managed to bounce back into the Fleftic Premier League on the back of, well, not really his own performances. Krantz was more along for the ride. And he didn't enjoy the ride, not one bit. Hence why, instead of signing a new contract with the club that would have made him the highest paid player in Paulsen's history, Krantz instead opted to test the free agent market, ending up on the shores of Pridnestrovia as he chose to suit up for Chernomorets Bratsk. Unfortunately for him, Chernomorets Bratsk was exactly the kind of club that he didn't want to play for as they were involved in a relegation dogfight in the Pridnestrovian Super League. Bratsk were indeed relegated in Krantz's first season with the club but managed immediate promotion back in the next season. Then followed two seasons of Bratsk managing to stave off yet another relegation by winning back-to-back relegation playoffs. Surprisingly though when Pridnestrovia completed its integration into UICA, Bratsk managed to follow up their back-to-back relegation playoff victories with two mid-table finishes, eighth and sixth respectively. Things were finally beginning to look good for Mr. Krantz. And then his contract ran out, and he was bought out by Eura's Dangerford, and his rotten luck with relegations finally managed to find its way back to him. In three seasons Krantz was relegated three times, first with Dangerford then Bastion Lions and finally Nukon, who currently remain stuck in the Euran second tier. It's only a matter of time before he demands another move away from Nukon, but will there be anyone brave enough to risk taking him in? That is a question that unfortunately does not yet have any answers.


Titles and honors may have become more of rarity for her in recent times but Zsofia Dolan still remains a deadly striker on the pitch, always in the hunt for the Women's Premier League Golden Boot.

Zsofia Dolan (30, ST, Ludogorets Markovsky)
Ludogorets Markovsky has always had this so-called "tradition" where once every decade, or whenever a player of such good quality and caliber pops up, that one player gets to carry the title of "Mr. (or Miss) Ludogorets". For the women's team, "Miss Ludogorets" has always been Raisa Korovina for as long as anyone could remember. But then Korovina retired, and a new Miss Ludogorets had to be found. The search would lead to a certain Zsofia Dolan who, upon learning that she had been bestowed a title lots of Markovskites could only ever dream of, took to it like a duck to water and proved to everyone that she was a worthy successor to Raisa Korovina. It made sense. Dolan was Ludogorets through and through and, aside from a two-year spell where she played for Lionesses in Armeia, had only ever suited up for the Lady Foresters her entire career. Dolan was an instrumental part in Ludogorets Markovsky Ladies winning two Ladies' Premier League titles in 2019 and 2020, but after that titles and trophies have seemed harder to come by for the Lady Foresters. But Dolan nevertheless always manages to remain in the conversation for the WPL Golden Boot, and with some of the other regular contenders like Chelsea Stuart and Alexandra Rousseau looking more and more likely to retire in the next few years, Dolan might be able to lead Ludogorets back to the promised land of WPL silverware. But she's not exactly a spring chicken, and time is inevitably running out on her to establish her own legacy and not just be "Raisa Korovina's successor" in Ludogorets fans' minds.


One of a number of Arsenal de Releinthi Women forwards and strikers who had the misfortune of breaking through under the shadow of one Chelsea Stuart, Irina Babarushchik decided that she couldn't wait for Stuart to retire and therefore decided to strike out for greener pastures.

Irina Babarushchik (30, ST, Dynamo Shebchetsik [Mercedini])
It takes a special kind of person to accept that they are going to be playing a backup role to arguably one of the best strikers, male or female, that Fleftic football has ever seen. And it takes an even more special kind of person to accept being a backup for the better part of a decade. Irina Babarushchik is not one of those special people. It could be said that she doesn't have a lot of patience. Sometimes a lack of patience can be a good thing, and sometimes it can be a bad thing. For Babarushchik, her lack of patience has been a mixed bag; she has had some positives but also some negatives following decisions made due to said lack of patience. Babarushchik's move away from Releinthi paid off for her, at least from a certain point of view. It finally got her out of Chelsea Stuart's shadow and allowed her to make a name for herself. On the other hand, moving away from Abanhfleft has seemingly ruled her out of contention for the senior national team, although recently that seems to have been rectified following Babarushchik's inclusion into Independents Cup teams. And Dynamo Shebchetsik has not won any Mercedinian Premier League titles as far as I am aware. As has been said earlier, a mixed bag of experiences for Irina Babarushchik.

And this ends my retrospective into the careers of the 23 young men and women who took part in Abanhfleft's journey through the 33rd Di Bradini Cup. It was a long journey, but as they say, all journeys no matter how long will always reach its destination. And we have reached ours. Join me next time for another look back at where our young guns have fared but until then, goodbye for now.

[Mercedini]

7th Under-18 World Cup Group Stage MD3
Mercedini vs. Starblaydia
@ Imperial Arena - Crystopolis, Equestrian States

Good afternoon and welcome back to the Under-18 World Cup hosted by the Equestrian States, where the tournament is well underway following the conclusion of the group stage and the draw for the Round of 16. Mercedini already knew they had qualified for the knockout rounds with two stellar performances against Sharktail and Vakolicci Haven, they would be joined by Starblaydia, their final opponent in the group stage. It was all about who Mercedini would want to play against if they could choose their preferred route to the final, with a solid group consisting of Baker Park and Darmen waiting for the two qualifiers from Group E. Aside from the previous four nations mentioned, only Abanhfleft and potentially Ko-oren have looked good enough to be considered tournament victors. But for now, let's have a look at the fallout of today's match and what that means going forward for the team in purple, and for the team in blue and black.

U18 World Cup: Every Cloud...

---

FINAL SCORE

U18WC | MD3

---

MERCEDINI 1
Vacek Jr 38'
STARBLAYDIA 3
Yamaguchi 79', McCloud 88' (P), Apelles 90+2'

---

Crystopolis, Equestrian States
Attendance - 42,863

Mercedini couldn't make it clean sheet in the U18 World Cup Group Stages as they fell to a rather spectacular Starblaydi comeback to lose their final game 3-1 at the Imperial Arena in Crystopolis. It was a wake-up call for the Young Eaglets who had previously breezed their first two matches, and it is the wake-up call that they probably needed if they are to take the bull by the horns and claim a second Mercedinian title in four editions. Starblaydia are debutants at this tournament but have plenty of momentum behind them to make their first appearance a special one, not least with starlet Sutter McCloud in fine form, netting his seventh goal from the penalty spot for the second of three goals in the final ten minutes or so of the game.

In the post-match interview immediately after the conclusion of the 3-1 loss, Mercedinian coach Alistair Devidov made it clear that the team was disappointed with themselves about losing their first group game since their debut in the tournament, but it is the "kick up the arse" the young players needed to push themselves to the limit from this point onwards. Christian Vacek Jr, who netted the opener for Mercedini, also commented on the need for a mentality change now that the team has tasted defeat, stating that, "there's no more wriggle room for the team, you play bad for one game and you're out, simple as that.".

That defeat means Mercedini will go through as a second placed team, meaning they will play the top-placing team from Group F at the Round of 16 stage. That will now end up being a vengeance match from Sporting World Cup 5 against the Commonwealth of Baker Park. As defending champions, the Young Eaglets' dominance in the tournament was ended by a sublime Baker Park side which would ultimately go on to win the entire tournament. It is likely to be the blockbuster match of the round as the two former champions go head-to-head at the Derby Field in Manehattan. It will prompt a small travel adjustment for the team as they venture out of Crystopolis for the first time since they arrived in the Equestrian States for the start of the tournament. Despite losing and moving forward as the second placed side in the group, both sides seem fairly balanced in terms of big names and underdogs. However, the top half does seem more stacked thanks to the inclusion of both Ko-oren and Abanhfleft in with Starblaydia, as well as the host nation of the Equestrian States also in the mix with an outside chance. In the bottom half, the winner of the Dini-Baker Park match will likely be the favourite to go on and make it all the way to the final, with no other team in terms of prowess and past experience in the bottom half to threaten those two. Cosumar is always the dangerous unknowns in these situations with the nation a regular participant in these kinds of competitions.

Of course, losing a match is always disappointing for any team, but this cloud does have a significant silver lining in the shape of the Round of 16 draw. We will be giving you all the action as the matches come in thick and fast from the Round of 16 as the fourth edition champions play the fifth edition champions is what could be a tournament defining match for both teams. Devidov will likely sand out another strong side after resting some of his key players for their match against Starblaydia, so full fitness will be the ambition for the team in a couple of days time. We hope you have a safe journey home tonight following the result. We've taken a slight bump, we are still alive and kicking for the time being.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

© Sporting Times Daily 2022
Knockout stages on course to be epic battles
by Fiona Devlin, Staff Soccer Writer

The Under-18 World Cup is headed towards it's final chapters and this edition could see one of the best group of elimination round matches in the history of the tournament.

For the Commonwealth of Baker Park, the round of 16 will see a rematch from one the most important games the side faced in it's title winning run in Abahnfleft against Mercedini. That quarterfinal saw Baker Park survive through a 3-2 win in extra time against the then-defending champions, a match that saw two red cards, an own goal, a penalty and Nikki Stone's dramatic game winner.

The Young Eaglets come into this match off a display of firepower in the group stage matched only by the team that pipped them to the top spot, Starblaydia; their longtime U18 coach Alistair Devidov has put together another squad who make full use of his 4-4-2 system.

While the game at Derby Field will pit two of the past three champions, there are several other intriguing fixtures that have the potential for maximum entertainment value. Baker Park's group mates Darmen will face off against the previously mentioned Starblaydi's, making their first appearance at the Under 18's, while Cassidaigua--in their second trip--face off against perennial U18 bridesmaids Abanhfleft. The Freeport Islands, up & comers in the sport, will face off against Cosumar, & Qasden and the Free Republics will meet in another showdown of teams who have strong senior level pedigrees.

[Equestrian States]

Round of 16 Results

Equestrian States 0–1 Pepsi Governate of Korea

Ko-oren 2–0 Clonka Magnus

Starblaydia 3–0 Darmen

Cassadaigua 1–2 Abanhfleft

Competitive Solitaire 1–3 Oberour Ar Moro

Qasden 0–1 Free Republics

Baker Park 2–2 Mercedini (2–3 AET)

Freeport 3–3 Cosumar (4–4 AET) (4–2 pen.)

Quarterfinals Matchups

Pepsi Governate of Korea vs. Ko-oren

Starblaydia vs. Abanhfleft

Oberour Ar Moro vs. Free Republics

Mercedini vs. Freeport

[Starblaydia]

Fëanáro expecting Fleftic dogfight
Starblaydia U18s cruise to Quarter-Finals

It was the most solid and comfortable-looking scoreline of the eight Second Round matches of the 7th Under-18 World Cup, but Starblaydia's victory was built on a tactical foundation designed to stifle the voraciously attack-focused Darmeni team and their 3-4-2-1 formation built around Darnell Halle. Halle was the only player to have scored at this level for Darmen before this tournament, a side who have only won, on average, one game in every four since their debut in this tournament four editions ago. This was undoubtedly Darmen's best run in the competition so far, but Starblaydia brought it to a juddering halt as their formation dismantled Darmen's and left Halle isolated and frustrated.

The classic 4-4-2 Diamond, so beloved in Starblaydi footballing history, is a versatile formation but relies on the width brought about by onrushing full-backs, in this case Imane Al-Hashem and Ursula Naaman. What it also provided them was the flexibility to flood the midfield, when required, with up to six players to combat the midfield-heavy Darmeni side and ensure that Starblaydia's key midfielders like Escerra, Apelles and Yamaguchi weren't overrun. In turn, it cut off the supply to Halle, who ended up being shackled by Charkraborty as Kaumolainen covered. Starblaydia's game plan worked almost perfectly, restricting Halle to just three shots all game, and all of them outside of the area. It wasn't all plain sailing, however, as Starblaydia's forward line struggled to get into the game themselves, so preoccupied were the rest of their team with claiming the middle third of the pitch. Indeed, the first half didn't see anything like the goal rush we'd been expecting in the pre-match build-up from two such attacking sides, and the first half ended 0-0.

When Starblaydia came out for the second half, however, they'd either had the hairdryer treatment from Jerzy Makuszewski, new tactical instructions from Ázëwyn Fëanáro, a particularly tasty half time orange, or some combination of all three. Starblaydia pinged the ball around with confidence and flair, giving Sutter McCloud his first real opportunity of the game - a header from Yamaguchi's short cross that he buried in the bottom corner of the net, much to Sergio Salas' dismay. It certainly woke the Darmeni side into action, as Halle soon had his best chance of the game up to that point, with Leopoldi forced into a smart save low to his right, tipping the ball away for a corner. The game dragged on, tense and nervous for both sides, as now it meant that if you lose, you're going home.

Starblaydia's fears were eased midway through the second half by a Kaori Yamaguchi free kick, curling sweetly around the wall with the goalkeeper Salas unsighted by the wave of purple shirts in front of him - Starblaydia, despite being listed as the home team, had their white kits clash with both Darmeni home and away kits, so both teams were in their change colours of purple with white trim, and white with green trim, respectively. The second goal had obviously shocked Darmen, and with just twenty minutes to go it looked difficult for them to pull even one back, never mind two. That sinking feeling got worse, however, when Sutter McCloud bagged his second with a darting run and snap shot with the outside of his left boot, sending the ball flashing past Sergio Salas for his second, Starblaydia's third, and the final nail in the Darmeni Under-18 title challenge.

Sutter McCloud's two goals took him to the lofty position of sixth in the all-time list of youth goalscorers for Starblaydia. He sits there all by himself on ten goals, some two hundred and twenty four players below him in the standings, with just five to go. But, since he was in joint-ninth place before this match, who did he leapfrog? Well all three of them had 8 goals for their nation, though they all went on to differing success for the national team.

The burly, lumbering Eomer Hall was regarded as the second-best of the early Starblaydi strikers, notching more Under-21 goals than anyone before him in his 13 appearances, before scoring more for the senior side than anyone but Simeone Di Bradini, who he partnered in three straight World Cups, 17 through 19. He was Hallad Reavers' star player in the Starblaydi Alpha Division of the time, and made 58 appearances for his country with 21 goals to his name along the way, before hanging up his boots and becoming the Hallad Reavers manager. A fantastic hold-up player with size and strength to test even the toughest of central defenders, Eomer Hall was regarded as a fantastic line-leader as well as a support striker who weighed in with more than his fair share of goals. He only managed a single goal in the World Cup proper, however, notching one in a 4-2 defeat by Eauz in Turori during World Cup 19.

Alfonso Di Angelo, attacking midfielder who scored
9 goals in just 11 games at youth level, ended up
becoming a centurion for Starblaydia.
Claudio Melciori is also in the frame.

Mercutio took the longest time of the three players we're featuring to get his nine goals - some sixteen matches - but considering he went to four separate Under-21 World Cups and top-scored in two of them for Starblaydia, that showed the talent of this young man. He, like Eomer Hall, went on to play in three straight World Cups, 24 through 26 but never managed to crack the first-team. Who cares, however, when you're the fifth-choice of six strikers in a World Cup winning side? With names like 44-goal Zhorin Tumunzahar, two-time President of the World Cup Committee Giovanni Lopez and no less than four World Cup Hall of Famers in that great Starblaydi side that toppled Rejistania's quest for a fifth title, Mercutio's great potential didn't work out to success as a national team striker by any other metric than owning a World Cup winner's medal. 'Scored winners against Keyshona and Metfield' doesn't quite have the same ring to it, even if they were the only two goals he scored for his country in 24 appearances.

Finally, the man who scored nine Under-21 goals in just 11 games, Alfonso Di Angelo. Here was a well-travelled player who started his career at Iskara Daii before jetting off to play for CR Submiria, Pernetas EC and finally the great Petardos S/A side of Cafundeu. He scored the youth team's 350th goal, and they're only on 591 now after this Darmen match. He was a box-to-box midfielder, able to defend and attack, but it was driving forward through the heart of midfield where he really excelled, continually getting on the scoresheet for Starblaydia in every single tournament he played in. Starting his international career in the Baptism of Fire for World Cup 38, he really made his name as a twenty year-old by scoring the only goal of the Semi-Final against what looked to be a future sporting superpower in Jey. From there on he scored consistently, including one against future World Champions Az-Cz, captaining his side to third place in AOCAF22, leading out Starblaydia at home in World Cup 40, scoring once, and as a thirty-three year old provided all his cunning and experience to aid Starblaydia in a successful World Cup 41 campaign, culminating in the 2-1 win over Capitalizt SLANI in the final. Alfonso Di Angelo captained Starblaydia some thirty-seven times in his hundred appearances and netted twenty-six goals, an amazing one-in-four return for a midfielder, placing him ultimately as the fourth-highest goalscoring midfielder for history Starblaydia's (behind Ázëwyn Fëanáro on 77; Menecrates on 30 and Paul Noble on 27, the first two of those being Hall of Famers).

Next up is a tussle against a familiar foe, this time at a new age level, in the form of Abanhfleft. The Blue, orange, and greens, who for some reason play mostly in white, blue and red, have been a near constant opponent for Starblaydia in recent years, continually cropping up in Di Bradini Cups, the World Cup and a number of other sports besides. They're relying heavily on Karamoko Bakayoko as their main attacking outlet, and Ázëwyn Fëanáro's side will have respect, but no fear, for another team with a talismanic striker. They dealt with Halle effectively this time, so what's to say they won't do the same with another great young striker at the tip of a modern formation, this time a 4-2-3-1? They'll have to be careful of the full-backs flooding in to make it a seven-man midfield, but with Starblaydia possessing height and strength at both the front and back thanks to Alan Eccleston and Manish Chakraborty respectively, who's to say they won't be able to again counter the opposition's game plan and make it through to the last four. The Pepsi Governate of Korea and Ko-oren will fight it out to see who gets to face the winner of this match in the Semi, while in the other half of the draw Starblaydia's Group E rivals Mercedini needed Extra Time to come through against the strong Baker Park team. Abanhfleft themselves defeated the ever-dangerous Cassadaigua side, so they too shouldn't be counted out yet. As this tournament gets to the real sharp end of things, it's heating up to be quite the spectacle.

Final score from First Entertainment Centre, Manechester (43,276)
Starblaydia 3 - 0 Darmen
(McCloud 48' & 72', Yamaguchi 68') - (None)

[Mercedini]

7th Under-18 World Cup Round of Sixteen
Mercedini vs. Baker Park
@ Derby Field - Manehattan, Equestrian States

Good afternoon everybody and welcome back to the Under-18 World Cup brought to you by the Equestrian States. We continue our coverage for the first of hopefully many knockout round fixtures for the Young Eaglets as they attempt to bring home a second tournament championship to the nation, following their victory in the fourth edition held in Filindostan. Mercedini unfortunately fell to Starblaydia in their third and final group match in Crystopolis, but they had already wrapped up qualification to the Round of 16 with two emphatic victories over Sharktail and Vakolicci Haven to secure their berth. Their second place finish has meant they would face a group winner, and that would take Dini back to two editions ago when they faced this opponent as defending champs and lost. That's right, Mercedini would have a vengeance match against former champions Baker Park to see who would move on to the quarter finals and who would be favourite to make it all the way to the final from their half. It was a packed Derby Field in Manehattan, so let's relive the action of a frantic and entertaining quarter-final.

U18 World Cup: Commonwealth Carnage

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FINAL SCORE (AET)

U18WC | R16

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BAKER PARK 2
Grimaldi 34', Craig 82'
MERCEDINI 3
Eureska 56', Vacek Jr 89', 119' (P)

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Manehattan, Equestrian States
Attendance - 58,401

It was a mammoth struggle but Mercedini finally got through their Round of 16 match against Baker Park with their tournament life intact, although they did need every one of their 120 minutes to make it through to face Freeport in the quarterfinals. Alistair Devidov continues his rather imperious run in this tournament by enacting revenge on the team that knocked them out, to which they eventually won the fifth edition, meaning the two youth sides are now level following their two meetings at this tournament. Dini were given numerous scares throughout the match and needed to come from behind twice to force extra-time in the match, something which could come back to bite the team as fixture congestion begins to become an issue.

It was the first time Mercedini had to venture out of the relative safety of Crystopolis as they made the trip over to Manehattan for their Round of 16 fixture. Their MD3 defeat to Starblaydia had put their campaign into perspective and proved to them that they are other more than worthy teams of taking the title for themselves, and they would have to struggle if they were to come out victorious in this, the seventh edition. Both teams had increased turnouts for their respective teams as the knockouts signalled the business end of the tournament, with a near-capacity crowd inside the Derby Field, with both teams ready to state their case for a quarter-final match-up against either Cosumar or Freeport.

As the designated away team for the match, Mercedini had to play in their away kits for the second time at this tournament, with Baker Park playing in their black home kits to avoid a clash between the two dark home kits of the teams. Two national anthems later, the teams were lined up on the pitch and ready to face off for the second time in three editions. Baker Park as the rising power, Mercedini as the past champion looking to get back to where they once were. Christian Vacek Jr and Estograd lead the line for the Young Eaglets in the first half, with a 56,000 attendance far greater than many would have ever experienced before, big crowds can be the springboard for big performances, or players could melt away under the lights and the tens of thousands of eyes watching them. The teams held major respect for each other and traded opportunistic pot shots at each other to test the goalkeepers early on but not putting any major pressure onto the defences, the closest chance of the opening half an hour coming from Endborough striker Quinton Harris who blazed over from close range after a scything pass gifted him acres of space to play with in front of goal.

Following that squandered chance, Baker Park did take advantage from their run of play by poking the ball into the net from a corner. It was sent in with space and was thought to he headed away by Dandic, however the ball seemed to hit a hollow point on the ball and fell flat and straight into the firing line of the waiting players. Grimaldi was there and only needed to swipe at the ball to send it rolling agonisingly into the net for the opening goal in Manehattan. The team in black were celebrating in the corner, Dini had work to do and looked to their manager for inspiration in anther trying match against Baker Park. The Commonwealth nearly doubled their lead immediately after kick off as Alicia Craig scraped the outside of the post with a low-drilled shot after she lost her marker and bounded forward towards the Mercedinian goal. It was a wobbly piece of play for the team in blue and black, but they managed to survive until the half time whistle with only a goal deficit to their name.

Back to the second half and Kyle Pisar, who was only just returning from injury, was subbed up to rest his ankle and to give the pacey and tricky Zia Nesci another un out to stretch his legs for the national side. They had work to do and needed to find goal if they were to keep their tournament life intact and avoid a second consecutive defeat to the Baker Park youth side. The half-time break proved to be the moment to breathe that Mercedini needed as they started to build from scratch with their renewed energy and new hope of finding a goal and a route back into this match. Salvation was found just past the ten-minute mark as Jackson Eureska popped up in the unlikeliest of places to finish off a well worked move from the Young Eaglets. It started from a long throw by Merlo which released Kadilyik down the middle, he laid it off to Nesci who was already in space as he continued the flowing move into the final third. Nesci cut inside and sent in an in swinging cross which was looking for Estograd in the centre, but the ball was deflected away by the defence into an open area of the pitch. Eureska picked up the ball and exchanged a quick one-two with Vacek to be sent in on goal. Eureska didn't need a second touched as he rounded his bady to curl a low effort into the side of the goal for an equaliser. Another moment of quality in the match, with both teams having plenty of those.

The match was getting more and more intense by the second as the teams were tied together at level pegging following that equaliser from Eureska. The midfields were dominant now with defences and attacks finding it difficult to link up due to the quick man-marking that both teams were displaying on the pitch. It was clear that the next goal would likely take the win and the ticket through to the quarterfinals. Baker Park were beginning to take precedent in the match once again, and that could only spell danger for the Mercedinian net once again.

Baker Park looked to have won in controversial fashion with a goal from Craig less than ten minutes before the end which looked to be offside, and not marginally to put it lightly. Baker Park were in a moment sustained of sustained pressure in the game when the midfield was hoping to loft a ball towards Craig who was making the run. Craig broke the line but was fooled by the dummy of Myers meant she was offside and had to track back. The second attempt was sent over which latched onto Crag who controlled it brilliantly. At this point, the defensive line of Mercedini had stopped and were appealing to the linesman for offside. He didn't as Craig had the freedom of the box to round Merlo and walk the ball into the net for a crucial second goal with so little time remaining in the game. Replays on television showed that Craig was at least two body-lengths offside, which the linesman inexplicably didn't raise his flag for. The Mercedinian fans seemed incensed at the decision with replays filtering through on social media for the fans to view, which resulted in some of the fans throwing empty plastic bottles at the linesman in front of them. Mercedini had a job to do, however, and they were currently failing in that job.

Vacek Jr had to rally the troops ahead for the big battle ahead of them, and it was to be a titanic struggle as Baker Park put almost everyone behind the ball to try and defend their 2-1 lead. Into the final minutes and a corner announced itself as a solid chance for Mercedini to equalise from, with the goalkeeper going up to the half way line just in case the ball was cleared and needed to be sent back in. Nesci lofted the ball high into the centre of the box for Vacek to connect on. He jumped with time seeming to slow down as the ball sailed to the top corner, the man on the post jumped but it wasn't enough as the ball went in off the bar for a dramatic equaliser for the Mercedinians. It was the loudest cheer of the night so far with the Mercedinians, at the opposite end of the pitch, screaming their lungs off in the three-tier arena in Manehattan. The floodlights were searing, but there was still another 30 minutes of action the teams needed to play. 2-2 at full time, extra time beckoned.

Psychologically, it was interesting to se what had happened to both teams following that Mercedinian goal and the full time whistle. They had the quarter final in their sight, but it was snatched away at the very end to deny the fifth edition champions another berth into the final eight. Alas, thirty more minutes had to be played until we had our conclusion to this match, with Dini now on the front foot and looking for the lead for the first time. First half of extra time was a rather damp squib with only three total shots and no shots on target between the two teams at all. Energy was quickly fading, with this all playing into the hands of either Freeport or Cosumar, which were into extra time in their own match.

Second half of extra time was a little more entertaining with both teams knowing the ramifications of getting the match won early in Manehattan. Seconds were ticking down until another moment of controversy looked to have ended the match. A scuffed cross from Nesci looked to have hit the hand of a Bake Park defender in the mix, with loud appeals from the Mercedinian fans behind the goal and the players who were waiting for the delivery. After being shafted by the officials in regulation time, they finally go the rub of the green in extra time and were awarded a last gasp penalty to snatch the game from under the noses of the Commonwealth. Vacek stepped up to score yet another brace in this tournament, and slotted the ball coolly down the middle to spark frantic celebrations behind the goal from the home fans. The entire squad was piled on top of one another as Devidov appealed for calm from within his players. He was having no chance of that. Mercedini only needed to hold out for a couple more minutes before celebrations could start as the match drew to a close. 3-2 after extra time was the final result, with Mercedini rectifying the reverse result from two editions ago.

That rounds things off for Mercedini in the Round of 16, they will be moving forward to face Freeport in the quarter finals of the U18 World Cup. Mercedini are arguable the favourites of the half to make it to the final, while Starblaydia, Ko-oren and Abanhfleft are all still in the mix in the top half of the draw, which could pose a threat to Mercedini if they make it that far. It's gearing up to be an interesting final few rounds for all teams involved as the riff-raff continues to be removed from the tournament. We will be back with more coverage of the World Cup, but from Manehattan in the Equestiran States, goodnight!

[Abanhfleft]

What the hell are you doing here? I was looking for you somewhere over there and now you've ended up over here! How the hell did you even do that? You know what? I don't care. You wanted a story? I'll tell you a story...

"Hello there, Kleos," Artemios Zigdis said as he entered the office of the new manager of Locomotive Imgortur Football Club, Klearchos Kazantzakis. "I see that you've finally made it back to Abanhfleft."

"Well, what can I say, Emios?" Kazantzakis replied. "I got the call, and I answered."

"So, does this mean that I'm finally good enough to get into your team?" Zigdis asked.

"Come off it, Artemios," Kazantzakis said. "Don't tell me you're still stuck ten years in the past." Ten years ago, Kazantzakis had been a fresh new youth team manager for Real Haritzaga, and Zigdis a fresh-faced goalkeeper coming through the system. Artemios Zigdis had performed well for the club's under-18 and under-20 levels, and he was looking to do the same at the under-21 level. Except Kazantzakis never gave him a chance at the under-21 level, instead opting to rely on other goalkeepers from the same batch as Zigdis, keepers who were arguably less proven than Zigdis was at that level. This had resulted in Zigdis expressing his displeasure with the club structure, leading to his eventual departure from the club and the beginning of a journeyman career that has seen him play in all four member states of the APOC Coalition and be currently at Locomotive Imgortur as a backup goalkeeper.

"I'm not stuck ten years in the past, Klearchos," Zigdis replied. "In fact, I've used my experience with you to make myself better, become a better goalkeeper, the best keeper I could ever be."

"Well, good for you, Emios," Kazantzakis nodded. "Because it just so happens that I need a goalkeeper, and you are the perfect man for the job."

Zigdis laughed. "Same old Kazantzakis, still thinking that I'm not— Excuse me, what did you just say?"

"I said I needed a goalkeeper, Zigdis," Kazantzakis replied. "You're a goalkeeper. You've been Gomez's backup for two years now. And he's now retired. Wouldn't you like to finally start in the Premier League on a regular basis?" Locomotive's previous starting goalkeeper, the remarkable Gomez Addams Osterhaus, bearer of quite possibly one of the greatest names in Fleftic footballing history, had finally retired from professional football at the age of 40 after more than twenty years in the game, ending his career at Locomotive Imgortur since it was the club where he had first started his career.

"Why... That's actually kind of you, Kleos," Zigdis finally said once he had processed Kazantzakis' words. "Surprising, certainly, but a welcome one as well."

"You can call me many things, Emios, but spiteful is not one of them," Kazantzakis said. "I like to think of myself as a pragmatic. You're the best option at goalkeeper that I have, and I'm taking you on."

"Well, that's a new one," Zigdis said. "Did we just settle a dispute amicably?"

"Call it whatever you want, Emios," Kazantzakis nodded. "But starting today, you're my goalkeeper now."

"Huh," was all that Zigdis could say.

[Equestrian States]

Quarterfinals Results

Pepsi Governate of Korea 0–2 Ko-oren

Starblaydia 2–1 Abanhfleft

Oberour Ar Moro 0–0 Free Republics (1–0 AET)

Mercedini 3–0 Freeport

Semifinals Matchups

Ko-oren vs. Starblaydia

Oberour Ar Moro vs. Mercedini